Strong finish at nationals for FH regional champion Orca Bowl team
Published 2:05 pm Friday, May 29, 2015
The Friday Harbor High School’s Orca Bowl team not only made waves at the regional marine science contest in March, they won the whole shooting match.
And, with the victory, the four-person squad, consisting of seniors Courtney Bell, Max Haenel and Sam Stewart, and sophomore Corbin Williams, claimed the Orca Bowl regional crown for the fourth time in six years and clinched a berth at the nationals by besting 20 other high school teams from Washington state.
Flash forward to April 23-26, and the Friday Harbor Orca Bowl squad snared third place in the Science Expert Briefing portion of the national meet and finished 18th out of 25 other regional champions competing at the National Ocean Sciences Bowl in Ocean Springs, Miss.
As part of the SEB, students take on roles and interests of various stakeholders in drafting a piece of federal marine legislation, one of the more challenging elements of the national competition.
“The Friday Harbor High School Ocean Sciences Bowl team represents San Juan Island at its best,” said Friday Harbor science teacher, Jesse Visciglia, faculty advisor for the Orca Bowl club. “With knowledge, skill, and grace these students have proven once again that Friday Harbor students can compete with the best in the country.”
Sponsored by the Washington D.C.-based Consortium for Ocean Leadership, the National Ocean Sciences Bowl draws about 2,000 students from more than 300 high schools to regional competitions across the U.S. The top four finishers typically earn a trip to notable places such as Catalina Island, Duke University’s Marine Lab or a science-related marine adventure.
In a quasi-Jeopardy-like format, members of the marine sciences teams face myriad ocean-related toss-up questions and team challenge questions that can span the range of just about any field of natural science; chemistry, biology, physics, geology, history, economics, etc.
This year’s berth at the national competition was the fifth over the past six years for Friday Harbor. The 2014 team fell short of a berth at the regional contest a year ago.
The 2013 team, however, following a narrow defeat and a second-place finish at the state contest two years ago, earned a trip to nationals after last year’s regional champion, Garfield High School, declined to take advantage of its automatic berth at the national competition.
— Scott Rasmussen
